Bob Diamond vehicle raises $325 mln through IPO — Reuters

Atlas Mara, a new shell company backed by the former boss of Barclays Bob Diamond, said it had raised gross proceeds of $325 million by listing on the London Stock Exchange.

Diamond, who was ousted from Barclays last year after the Libor rate-rigging scandal, has set up Atlas Mara with billionaire entrepreneur Ashish Thakkar, chief executive of Mara Group. The proceeds from the initial public offering included a $20 million investment by its founders.

The vehicle will be managed by Atlas Merchant Capital, the merchant bank Diamond has set up in New York with a view to expand into sub-Saharah African banks and financial services.

Conditional dealings in the shares will begin on Tuesday. Citigroup acted as advisor on the IPO.